A Plan to Stop Gun Violence

by Crazy151drinker 52 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Crazy151drinker

  Spanner,

  Not really. In countries where drugs are legal, say Holland, drug use has not ballooned and is in fact quite stable. (When I went over there the majority of the people in the 'Coffee Houses' were British.....) Face it, people who use drugs are going to use drugs no matter how legal or illegal, so we might as well stop wasting all this money. We've spent years upon years and BILLIONS of dollars on the 'War' on drugs and nothing has changed.

  We live in a country that generally believes that as long as your not hurting anyone else then you have a right to do it.

  I find it quite bizarre that the Govt has no problems with me going into 7-11 and buying 2 Cases of beer but yet im a bad person if I wanna drop some Acid. Drugs are Drugs and yet we are so quick to blast all the illegal ones. Somehow Alcohol (which kills more people in DUI accidents than guns) is perfectly OK!! How much violence is surrounded by Alcohol?? Rapes??? Murders?? Spousal Abuse??? I would much rather have a Pot head for a Nieghbor than an Alcoholic. Cigarettes kill 500,000 people a year! Why arnt they illegal!! The whole thing is a stupid double standard. We just need to admit to ourselves that its not working and we need to try something different.

  We need either A) Make it Legal and Tax it or B) Kill all drug users and dealser (ie Turkey, Iran, China..)

  Personally, I'll take A.

  We realized that Prohibition didnt work and yet we are doing the same thing with other Drugs. The whole thing is just plain stupid.
  Another problem is that we, the Great American People, have been preached 2 for the past 40 years "Drugs are BAD, Drugs are BAD"...which is fine, they are BAD! But, that doesnt mean they shouldnt be legal. Alcohol is bad, Cigarettes are BAD, yet they are legal.

  When I tell my friends this they cry out "OH NO! Drugs are bad! Look what they did to me!! You cant legalize them!!" to which I respond, "Did their illegality prevent you from using them?", they say "uhh No...", which leads me to the kicker- "So then whats the point."

  Larc,

  I agree. Tax it. Make it SAFE. People are going to do it either way.

  It all boils down to our idiotic belief that if we make something illegal it will go away! Face it folks, laws are for punishment, not prevention......
• 

  truthseeker1

  In regards to the statment of increase all wages:

  Over the last 5 or so years, Minimum wage has almost doubled. Has the standard of living increased, or has the price of everything increased? Think about it....A lot of companies are just scraping by, and if you make them pay their labor force more money, they will go broke if they don't make up the money somewhere else. They arn't just gonna lose that extra money, so they increase the cost of their product raising the rate. You folks ever wonder why it costs 2 bucks for a soda in a restaurant now? Minimum is always going to be minimum, no matter how much you raise it.

  There is always gonna be violence though. Some things are always going to be illegal, and there is always going to be someone there who will smuggle it in for huge profits. If we take out the drugs, the gangs will look to a new venue for their cash, rather than settle down for an office job. Perhaps the sale of body parts for surgery, start prostitution rings, slavery, or anything that makes a buck. It will get rid of drug violence, true. But I think it will turn to something else.
• 

  Crazy151drinker

  Here is the DEA's budget throughout the years.......can you say money down the drain.........

  DEA Staffing & Budget

  The Drug Enforcement Administration is a component of the Department of Justice, along with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and others. It is headed by an Administrator who is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate.

  DEA Staffing and Appropriations FY 1972-2003 (All Sources)
  YEAR	Total Employees	Special Agents	Support Staff	Budget ($ in Millions)
  1972	2,775	1,470	1,305	65.2
  1973	2,898	1,470	1,428	74.9
  1974	4,075	2,231	1,844	116.2
  1975	4,286	2,135	2,151	140.9
  1976	4,337	2,141	2,196	161.1
  1977	4,439	2,141	2,298	172.8
  1978	4,440	2,054	2,386	192.3
  1979	4,288	1,984	2,304	200.4
  1980	4,149	1,941	2,208	206.7
  1981	4,167	1,964	2,203	219.5
  1982	4,013	1,896	2,117	244.1
  1983	4,013	1,896	2,117	283.9
  1984	4,093	1,963	2,130	326.6
  1985	4,936	2,234	2,702	362.4
  1986	4,925	2,440	2,485	393.5
  1987	5,710	2,879	2,831	773.6
  1988	5,740	2,899	2,841	522.9
  1989	5,926	2,969	2,957	597.9
  1990	6,274	3,191	3,083	653.5
  1991	7,096	3,615	3,481	875.0
  1992	7,264	3,696	3,568	910.0
  1993	7,266	3,518	3,748	921.0
  1994	7,049	3,611	3,438	970.0
  1995	7,389	3,889	3,500	1,001.0
  1996	7,369	3,708	3,661	1,050.0
  1997	7,872	3,969	3,903	1,238.0
  1998	8,452	4,214	4,238	1,384.0
  1999	9,046	4,527	4,519	1,477.0
  2000	9,141	4,566	4,575	1,586.6
  2001*	9,209	4,601	4,608	1,697.4
  2002**	9,388	4,625	4,763	1,799.5
  2003***	9,629	4,680	4,949	1,897.3
  * FY 2001 Enacted Level. S&E Funding for 2001 includes Govt. wide recission of $2,999M. **FY 2002 Enacted Level ***FY 2003 Congressional

  For a grand total of $22,515,200,000.00 of money down the toilet. Almost $1.9 Billion this year!! What a joke. Put it in education. Give out grants. I know, take all 9,629 employees and move them over to the Department of Homeland Defense or stick them in the FBI. Use them for something good.

  Aprox 1.7 Million people are imprisioned in the U.S with aprox 40% on drug related offenses. At $25,000 per prisoner it costs the U.S. Taxpayers aproximatly $17 Billion/year to house druggies. What a WASTE. Then when they get out they are FELONS and cant get a real job so they go backto selling drugs. Its an Endless cycle of WASTE. If you want to include the opportunity cost of having those inmates in jail when the of course the WASTE doubles. Not only are they costing us money, they are doing NOTHING to contribute to the economy. Then of course the families get messed up, kids with out dads, yadda yadda yadda and the who thing SPIRALS out of CONTROL.

  It needs to be CHANGED.
• 

  Crazy151drinker

  Truth,

  Organized gangs already take part in Slavery and Prostitution. However, it takes a lot more work and is a lot less profitable. And as far as selling organs, somehow I dont think LA gang members are that adept. I know, they'll go into illegal computer repair. Sure, some will do something else, but most will not. Face it, selling drugs is the easiest and laziest way to make money.
• 

  larc

  Spanner, when I say all drugs, that is exactly what I mean - all of them.
• 

  animal

  Criminals here in the USA know 2 things are on thier side:

  1. Prisons are no big deal, they live better there than on the streets.
  2. Many citizens here have followed the leaders and gotten rid of thier weapons.

  Thus, they feel safe to do what they want. For the most part, they go after the meek, or the old, or the young. Us graybeards on bikes dont get bothered, whether we are carrying or not. Bullies never pick on bullies.

  Now, make more bullies... remove the high dollar profit from drugs .... kill more prisoners sentenced to die ... and maybe add public whippings and stocks. That would be my recipe for change.

  Animal
• 

  truthseeker1

  Are we to regulate the use of drugs, or just make all substances legal?

  Would you like General Mills to put a highly addicting substance that isn't FDA approved, thus making it illegal to consume, into their breakfast cereal? If its legal for people to consume these substances, whats to stop people from using them in the commercial industry?

  Just throwing a lil wrench here and there
• 

  Crazy151drinker

  Legalize, Regulate, and TAX!! Just like we do with Tabaco and Alcohol. Both legal, both drugs, both regualted, both taxed. Make it 21 to do drugs. Stores have to have permits, etc..etc.. just like they do with Cigarrettes and Alcohol. The ATF could be the DATF (Drugs Alcohol Tobacco Firearms).
• 

  Xander

  Its an Endless cycle of WASTE

  Yes, but a cycle the government WANTS. Remember, above all else, to keep power, the population must stay afraid. Afraid of nebulous evil forces afar, but afraid of 'gangs' and 'drug wars' at home, too.

  Of course, cynicism aside, the 'drug war' also creates a ridiculous number of jobs. 2 bill this year? How many people will that employ quite comfortably? And they can keep raising taxes to fund it, too, as long as most people feel afraid of the problem.

  Would you like General Mills to put a highly addicting substance that isn't FDA approved, thus making it illegal to consume, into their breakfast cereal?

  How on earth did we get from legalizing drugs to product tampering?

  Do the dairy farmers of America sneak alcohol into their milk? No? Why? Because it's stupid!

  You know how you walk into a pharmacy to buy Bayer or a pack of Marlboro now? Like that, but with heroine and weed.

  Will there be more addicts? Oh, I'm sure there will be a few. And??? How does that effect you? If someone wants to spend part of their paycheck on legal drugs instead of a new stereo system, who cares? They're happy, the person who sold it to them is happy, the farmer who could grow it domestically now is happy, etc.

  Course, while I'm on the subject, lets get off this Middle East oil. What we get from our own wells, Canada, and South America is enough for almost all our needs if we get vehicles off of it. How to do that? Well, grain alcohol is a fantastic renewable resource. (Renewable, get that? That means we won't run out!) Imagine that, farmers actually able to grow profitable crops instead of eaking by with government subsidies ('profitable crops' - get the connection? There you go, legalize and tax drugs, move over to alcohol powered cars, improve the economy!).
• 

  Bendrr

  I'm with you Crazy. Legalize drugs.

  It's not going to be a free-for-all. The drugs will be taxed. The drugs will be subject to quality standards, no more "fake ecstasy" made from God-knows-what or coke cut with rat poison. The businesses that sell them will be subject to strict regulation. And this is one industry in which I would advocate price-controls, at least at the beginning. The prices and quality would have to be better than that of street dealers and "crack houses", this type of competition is the only way to eliminate them.

  The taxes should be used to fund the "new" DEA. The revised DEA would oversee the "drug shops" and manufacturers. Tell you what, while we're at it let's just let the big pharmaceutical companies make the drugs. They can then make more money and will have to offer free or low-cost prescription drugs (medical) to senior citizens and the poor. The DEA will shift from the current endless "war on drugs" to - like I said - oversight of "drug shops" and manufacturers, and also provide drug treatment for addicts who want to quit.

  Mike.